'WKRP in Cincinnati' celebrates 35 years off the air

WKRP in Cincinnati stars Tim Reid, Howard Hesseman and Loni Anderson and creator Hugh Wilson will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the CBS premiere – nine months late – at the Paley Center for Media in Beverly Hills on Wednesday.

The Baby, If You've Ever Wondered: A WKRP in Cincinnati Reunion panel discussion will be streamed live at 10:30 p.m. Eastern at paleycenter.org.

Directors Jay Sandrich and Asaad Kelada also will reminisce with the gang.

WKRP premiered on CBS on Sept. 18, 1978, and aired four seasons.

The opening title scenes showed Cincinnati's Fountain Square, Fort Washington Way, and the Brent Spence and Roebling suspension bridges, but the sitcom was taped in Los Angeles. The old Enquirer building at 617 Vine St. was the fictional home for the radio station, in what the show called the Osgood R. Flimm building.

The comedy was derived from the sleepy family-owned station switching to top-40 rock music and hiring DJs Dr. Johnny Fever Caravella (Hesseman) and Venus Flytrap (Reid). Wilson once told the Enquirer he chose the call letters to stand for C-R-A-P. Then he picked "Cincinnati" because it sounded good with WKRP.

"In celebration of the thirty-fifth anniversary of WKRP in Cincinnati's debut season, the Paley Center gathers members of the cast and creative team for a fond look back at a true TV original," reads an announcement from the Paley Center, which was founded in 1975 by former CBS president William S. Paley.

"Fans are invited to join the conversation in real-time during the event via Twitter: @PaleyCenter."

Further information and tickets ($25 for non-members) to the program can be found at www.paleycenter.org.